The “personal space” dress is one of three projects created by Ms. McDermott, 27 years old, for her master’s of fine arts degree at City University of Hong Kong. Described as “DIY wearable electronics for intervening in the everyday,” the dress has been picked up by a number of websites as a way to ward off unwanted sexual advances, although that wasn’t Ms. McDermott’s intention when she designed the piece.

“Some people think that’s a good thing and other people’s reaction is very defensive,” said Ms. McDermott. “I think we’re all really protective of our space.”

Ms. McDermott studied sculpture and fine art at Cornell University before moving to Hong Kong in 2012. In addition to the personal space dress, she created the “autofilter,” a scarf that inflates to protect from pollution and fumes and the “miss-my-face,” a hat and veil lined with infrared lights that obscure a person’s face when viewed on close circuit security systems, or CCTV.

With a focus on the field of physical computing, Ms. McDermott said she’s interested in “technological expansions” or “extensions” of the body, as opposed to commercially produced wearable technology that focus on data and the virtual world.

But Ms. McDermott stresses that her designs be viewed as artworks and not products.

“Some people are taking them very literally,” she said. “I don’t think they’re good solutions for societal problems – I don’t think women wearing four motors and a battery pack on them in that way is a great solution moving forward.”

But, she added, “some people do see it and they think, ‘I would wear that, I want that, my commute is that bad.’”

Ms. McDermott has instructions on how to make each design on her “Urban Armor” website, with the goal of providing a “different narrative of the future in which we’re all using these technologies but they’re mass produced and you only have a few choices.”

Now working as a researcher at the school where she studied her MFA, Ms. McDermott hopes to carry on with the project, collaborating with groups and creating pieces that aren’t just focused on an individual or on negative interactions.

“I’m really open about where this project goes,” she said.

Ms. McDermott models the ‘Autofilter’ robotic scarf.

Kathleen McDermott / Urban Armor

Corrections & Amplifications: Artist Kathleen McDermott lives in Hong Kong. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said she was based in Tokyo.